handmaids tale context Flashcards
How does AIDS relate to the book?
Disease contracted by HIV
Millions of people have contracted AIDS and millions have died
It was frequently contracted through sexual activity
Promoted negative attitudes to sex
How do nuclear-plant accidents relate to the book?
E.g. Chernobyl
Explosions at the plant led to serious radiation emissions, death toll was low but thousands have suffered from cancers which are thought to have been caused by the radiation
In atwoods book
Chemicals and pollution have made most of the country unlivable
Humans have been so damaged by pollutants and chemicals that only 1 in 4 babies are born healthy
How do romanian children relate to the book?
Ban of birth control
Romanian women were expected to have 5 children
Relates to the handmaids role in society of having kids for upper class people
Relevance of hitler and the nazis
Book that were considered to have undesirable content were burned (severe restrictions on literature in gilead)
Oppression of those who didnt share hitlers opinion - sometimes led to the slaughter of these people
Hitler Youth - young guards ‘most dangerous, most fanatical’
Jews were required to wear the badge of a yellow star - on the body of a hanged Jew
Children of ‘undesirables’ were forcibly removed from their parents - offreds daughter was taken away
Mothers cross and SS breeding programs
Relevance of Maos china
Red Guards - ‘young ones…most dangerous, most fanatical’
No more education/uni
Burning of books
People were encouraged to report lapses in others - Offred worried nick might betray her
Children of the ‘bourgeoisie’ were forcibly remived from their parents to be adopted by loyal communists
Relevance of islamic regimes
E.g. Taliban
Refusal to allow girls to be educated
Insistence on women being fully clothed
Imposition of brutal public sentences
Relevance of slavery and racism
Children of Ham (black people) are being deported
Underground railroad => underground femaleroad (feminist escape route)
What is meant by linguistic repression?
censorship used to ensure that citizens see and hear only what the powers-that-be decide is suitable
Gilead- reading and writing are strictly limited
What is meant by eugenics?
selective breeding as a means to improve the fitness of the human race
Those who viewed themselves as superior found they could rely on the theory of eugenics to justify their discrimination against the lower classes
what is meant by biopower?
‘literally having power over other people’s bodies’
